Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 245 The Second Northern Expedition

Under the soft protests of Manchu nobles such as Ajige who did not put in enough effort, Dorgon was finally forced to put the Central Plains battlefield back at the top of the entire war situation.

After all, there are still thousands of troops under Chen Tai holding on there!

To put it another way, who would be willing to attack those fortresses in Jiangbei and Huaibei?

After the Eight Banners Army led by Ajige withdrew from Jiangbei, its movements became swift in an instant. In early March, it had arrived in Kaifeng and joined the 10,000 elite Green Camp troops who were training there by Oboi and Jin Li.

Afterwards, Ajige personally led the army and launched an unprecedented attack on the Ming army around Nanyang.

Of course, the tens of thousands of troops led by Ajige, Oboi, Jin Li and others were divided into several routes and crossed two provinces. Such a large-scale military operation could not be concealed from the Jinyiwei who had dense secret lines in the Central Plains.

Tian Jianxiu had received the intelligence long ago, and Lin Changfeng had personally led his troops north to provide support in February. The armies of Sun Kewang and Ai Nengqi stationed in Fengyang had made preparations early to attack Kaifeng.

Guide Prefecture was once abandoned by the Ming Dynasty during the previous Qing army's offensive. Now Jiangbei has become the key to the battlefield again, and this hub has naturally become important.

On the battlefield of Nanyang, Ajige, Oboi, Jin Li and others, after a hard fight, finally achieved the long-awaited victory and were very excited, especially since the Ming army outside Nanyang city finally withdrew.

However, the armies under Tian Jianxiu and Lin Changfeng did not make Ajige feel comfortable. The latter's so-called "victory" was more of an active retreat of the Ming army.

After all, the time is not yet ripe. Lin Changfeng led his troops north to cover the right army of the palace moving south. Otherwise, there might really be problems under Ajige's attack.

Moreover, although the situation in Nanyang was temporarily under control, with the Ming army retaking Guide, the Qing army had to disperse its troops between the two provinces, and its actions became restricted.

After discussion, Ajige, Oboi, Jin Li and other Qing generals decided to concentrate their troops and defeat the Ming army in Guide in one battle. Then they would withdraw their troops south to eliminate the main force of the Ming army entrenched near Xiangyang.

Because of their long-awaited victory, they had begun to believe that as long as it was a fair and open battle in the field, it would be difficult for the Ming army to stir up any more trouble.

But the Ming army now occupies Xiangyang, blocking the gateway from the Central Plains to Huguang. They can attack north at any time and threaten the north and south of the Yellow River. This must be resolved.

Tian Jianxiu and Lin Changfeng took the initiative to give up Nanyang and concentrate their forces to retreat to Xiangyang, which was naturally Zhu Cilang's arrangement.

They had already started making plans based on the intelligence they received from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. If Ajige dared to go directly south, although they would not be able to annihilate him in one fell swoop and completely cut off his offensive momentum, it would be difficult for them to retreat north safely without suffering serious injuries.

Now, due to changes in the situation, the financial pressure on the Qing court is much greater than in history. Jirgalang is now dedicated to raising funds in Shanxi, northern Zhili, northern Shandong, northern Henan and other places.

However, under such circumstances, his work of supervising military pay was naturally not going smoothly, and it even made the gentry in the Central Plains more inclined towards the Ming Dynasty. As a result, the Jinyiwei was able to quickly penetrate into Kaifeng, Taiyuan, Datong and other prefectures.

In other words, with the constant war, both the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty faced enormous financial pressure.

However, the tax base of the Ming Dynasty was already quite large at this time, and the garrison system was being implemented in the recovered areas, which made the tax problems faced by Zhu Cilang much smaller.

Back to the present, after Ajige lifted the siege of Nanyang, the Green Camp Army training operations led by Oboi and Jin Li also proved to be effective. To a certain extent, the Qing army regained its confidence on the battlefield.

At the same time, in order to deal with the Ming navy in Liaohai, Dorgon also recruited officers and soldiers from the Denglai and Tianjin navies of the Ming Dynasty to build a navy, hoping to counterattack and block the Ming navy at critical moments.

But the final result is predictable.

The navy that the Qing court had painstakingly assembled had numerous problems—not only were the ships small, they lacked experience in naval warfare, and the cannons on board were all just for show.

As a result, this navy was no match for Zhang Mingzhen and Huang Fei.

But before the two armies engaged in battle, Dorgon was full of confidence.

After all, he knew almost nothing about the navy. Although he didn't believe everything his subordinates said, he still believed about 30% of it.

Moreover, Dorgon's lack of expertise even included not knowing the strength of the Ming navy. He only knew that the other side was very strong, but with this level of knowledge, he could not see any problems with himself, let alone the Ming army.

When the Ming navy attacked, the Qing army blocked them. Finally, when the Ming navy was about to retreat, the Qing navy immediately went into battle.

But when they encountered the naval forces of Zhang Mingzhen and Huang Fei, their true colors were revealed.

Dorgon soon discovered that compared with the performance of the Ming navy, the so-called navy he had painstakingly organized was nothing more than a fishing boat going out to sea.

As soon as the two armies engaged in battle, these naval forces, who had originally only wanted to follow behind and withdraw immediately after a demonstration, were defeated in the blink of an eye. In less than half an hour, they were completely wiped out by the encirclement of the Ming army.

Zhang Mingzhen and Huang Fei even took advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy and further threaten Beijing, Tianjin and other places.

But their land combat capabilities were too weak and they were temporarily unable to continue the attack.

Over the next month, the situation in Henan temporarily returned to calm because neither side launched a powerful attack.

Ajige's Eight Banners Army was also useless, and it was not easy for them to go south.

You have to know that at this time, the Qing Dynasty had a fire in its backyard again.

At this time, Dorgon was not only hit by the annihilation of his navy, but also had no time to take care of Tianjin in a short period of time. He also had to suppress the rumors in the court.

After all, he was the one who pushed for or led the mobilization of the navy and the proactive attack. The Qing court had already been discussing the disastrous defeat in this naval battle.

Of course, this wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. Dorgon also had to deal with the affairs of Outer Mongolia and Tsarist Russia. After finally appeasing those restless allies of Outer Mongolia, the war in the south became even more intense.

As time entered March, Zhu Cilang gathered 50,000 to 60,000 field troops in the south and north of the Yangtze River, almost emptying the entire Jiangnan region's military forces. He brought tens of thousands of cavalry and hundreds of large and small artillery pieces, preparing to launch the second Northern Expedition.

Zhu Cilang even wanted to send out a sudden attack on Dorgon as early as February, but because he was fighting on two fronts in Huguang and Shaanxi, the loss of supplies was considerable, and it would take time to recruit and train more troops, so the plan was delayed until now.

At this time, the defender of Jinan was Dorgon again. Dorgon's embarrassment and confusion were vividly reflected in his deployment.

Duoduo, Kong Youde and others never expected that Zhu Cilang would take action so quickly, but they had been frightened for so long and reacted quickly, not giving the Ming army any opportunity to take advantage.

Jinan City is now impregnable, and Zhu Cilang does not intend to launch a fierce attack.

He has now made all the preparations and plans to surround the city until all the food is gone, forcing Duoduo to come out of the city for a decisive battle.

During this process, what he had to do was the same as before, waiting for the Qing Dynasty's reinforcements to come to the rescue, and then surround and attack the reinforcements.

This is also the reason why he took so long to prepare and train the cavalry.

Zhu Cilang learned a considerable amount of information about the Qing army's mobilization through the Jinyiwei's spies.

After more than four years of infiltration, Jinyiwei information sources were already found in various parts of the Northern Expedition.

Although Zhu Cilang had not yet officially started the Northern Expedition, a series of preparations for the expedition had already been carried out in full swing, and the various armies were already in the ranks of the expeditionary force.

The situations in various places flashed through Zhu Cilang's mind one after another. He thought for a long time and his thoughts gradually became focused.

Now, the only thing he needs to do is to fight the Northern Expedition.

After making this clear, Zhu Cilang immediately called Lin Changfu in and asked him to notify Zhang Huangyan, Chang Denggui and others to go to the Five Military Commandery for a meeting.

Today, the Five Military Commandery has, to a certain extent, become the command center of the army. This is a power that Zhu Cilang has continuously granted and strengthened through many actions and institutional reforms.

"This time, the Heavenly Cavalry's assault south of Jinan was very successful. We chopped off over 150 Tartar heads alone. I'm afraid those so-called Sauron elite Tartars have been intimidated by us!"

In the military meeting room of the Five Army Commander-in-Chief's Office, in front of Zhu Cilang, the admirals and main battalion officers of the Palace Army and the Three Towns of Jiangbei were sitting together, listening attentively to Chang Denggui's military analysis. Their eyes kept following the bamboo branches moving on the map so that they could keep up with his thoughts.

"Right now, the Qing government has sent reinforcements into Jinan City. Meanwhile, troops have also been stationed in Dongchang Prefecture City. There are around 3,000 soldiers, all of whom are Green Camp soldiers transferred from Shanxi.

In addition, the Jinyiwei received intelligence that Oboi and Jin Li had gathered the elite Green Camp troops from Shandong and Shanxi provinces. These elite troops would most likely be transferred from the Henan battlefield to Shandong. Their weapons and armor were well trained, and they would probably not be easy to defeat on the battlefield.

Tian Jianxiu had already ascertained the strength of the Eight Banners army led by Ajige on the southern expedition. The main force of the Eight Banners currently resting near Nanyang should number around 15,000, at least half of which were genuine Manchu soldiers, some also armored baoyi soldiers, and the rest were a mix of Mongolian and Han Eight Banners, with a few wealthy families bringing armored baoyi soldiers to assist in the battle.

In other words, the number of troops Dorgon could ultimately bring south for the decisive battle was definitely more than 30,000. Zhang Mingzhen and Huang Fei were in the north, and they needed to be constantly attacked to contain them. Dorgon would likely also eventually deploy several thousand Green Camp troops from Shanxi to aid the battle south. Once the Qing army joined forces with the Duoduo garrison in Jinan, the final number of troops capable of fighting would be at least 30,000 to 40,000, and possibly over 60,000.

As Chang Denggui spoke, he moved the bamboo stick in his hand from Beijing to Jinan:
"However, the troops stationed in Jinan by Duoduo are still quite weak. But if we can hold Jinan for a few months, it shouldn't be a big problem. We can't waste our entire army on attacking the city right from the start."

After Chang Denggui finished speaking, the room suddenly became quiet. They were not surprised by the strength of the Qing army. Even if there were 20,000 or 30,000 more troops, they would not be afraid.

At this time, Chen Fu, who had returned from Shaanxi and was sitting in the first row, suddenly raised his hand and asked:

"Has there been any military intelligence reported from outside the Great Wall?"

When he was in Xi'an, the scouts he sent out brought back a lot of news about Mongolia.

"Yes, but most of them are rather vague. However, what is certain is that the Mongols were not very interested in entering the Pass."

Chang Denggui paused, then continued:
"Now, the Qing court not only has us as an enemy, but also unstable factors in the north. It must leave troops stationed in Beijing to ensure safety. According to the worst-case scenario, the Qing court will send 60,000 troops south."

In fact, Zhu Cilang and the generals of the Five Military Commandery had already discussed the strength of the Qing army marching south.

Today, although the situation has changed a lot compared to last year, many things have not changed, especially the Qing court's irreversible defeat and decline.

After the previous wars, Zhu Cilang had great confidence in the new recruits in the army who had completed all training and assessments.

The extra 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and horses under his command are enough to create an irreversible advantage over the Qing army in the local battlefield. Although the enemy's cavalry can make good use of its mobility advantage around Jinan, he is not short of cavalry now.

"According to the Five Military Commandery, the Qing government will concentrate its forces in Jinan and Kaifeng, waiting for the right opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with us. Ajige will most likely lead his troops out of Nanyang in three months, looking for an opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with our army.

This depends on Duoduo's performance in defending the city. Although our army has basically completed its assembly, the final siege is expected to take place in early April. If all goes well and the siege makes some progress, it will probably take until June or July."

After Chang Denggui finished explaining the situation of the Qing army and the Five Military Governors' Office's speculation, he moved the bamboo stick in his hand to the areas of the various prefectures in Jiangnan on the map:
"The Central Army, the Left Army, the Right Army, the Celestial Cavalry, the Valiant Cavalry, the Three Jiangbei Garrisons, the Left Garrison, the Right Garrison, the West Garrison, the various divisions of the Loyal Camp, and the main forces of the Yangtze and Zhejiang navies have basically assembled. The last batch of officers and soldiers are on their way back and will all be back in camp in ten days.

Next, let me talk about the action plans of each army in the early stage of the Northern Expedition:
This time, the main force of the army was on the eastern front, including the Central Army, the Left Army and the three towns in the north of the Yangtze River. They were led by Admiral Chang Denggui and took the lead from Nanjing and Yangzhou to Xuzhou and then to the outskirts of Jinan.

The western and northern lines were used to contain the flanks. While the central army was taking action, Admiral Tian Jianxiu and Chen Fu immediately led their troops to launch an attack from Xiangyang and northern Shaanxi.

As for the naval offensive, the Fujian Navy was deployed. After the war began, Admiral Zhang Mingzhen took full command of all units, containing the Qing army in the Liaohai Sea and setting up camp on coastal islands, awaiting military orders.

(End of this chapter)